The Christmas Concert

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. It's quite busy this time of year between the holiday activities and extra shoveling and school and activities. To top it all off, the kids also had their Winter Concert.


The kids are now in separate groups for music - at least until next year. I think it's funny that this boy was supposed to be sharing music with girlchild. But he obviously wasn't. It was almost as if he's still in that "ewwwwwww, girls!" stage.


Boychild and his friend were able to provide the requisite drum accompaniment for "The Little Drummer Boy". He was so proud of himself. And we were just as proud.

The holiday letters are still coming. What??!!!?? You expected me to do them myself? We did get them all printed, but the kids wanted to help so I held off for them. And then we had winter weather that prevented travel that weekend. And... you don't think I'm out of excuses yet do you? Anyway, they really are still coming - before the end of the year even. Assuming we don't get all of the snow that is expected to be dumped on us again. I'm officially tired of snow.

Our Trip Around the World

Some people take a trip as a part of their holiday traditions. So this year we decided to do the same thing. But this wouldn't be just an ordinary trip around the world - this would be one in where we literally touched 6 of the 7 continents, managed to squeeze in an outer space encounter, took a trip back in time and opened our eyes to things we might never have seen otherwise. The best part? We did it on a shoestring budget and still managed to have the time of our lives. Not possible, you say? Ahhhh, well let me introduce you to Holiday Folk Fair International.

We'll start our journey South of the border with an introduction to "Mexican Fiesta". Here is some traditional Mexican art work. The dragon has a wire frame and is a paper machete production. The smaller sculptures are done from tissue paper and wire. The paper is varnished and then shaped. And then it's varnished again. The colors are just extraordinary and it's hard to believe it's paper - it actually looks like a spongy, foam material. Below you will see some additional photos of the sculptures. You can click on any of the photos to make them larger for a better view. See the passports in the kids' hands? They collected about 35 passport stamps during our trip.






Our travels took us North and back in time to visit with the American Indians. Our guide for this part of the journey was from the Oneida tribe. It was fun to see how large a tee pee actually could be. Boy child was also enthralled with the prayer club, which would have been used as a war club in times gone by. It was an elk horn wrapped with fox fur. It was odd to see something so beautiful and know that it had originally been designed as a weapon.

Speaking of Indians, we also got some history lessons about the French-Indian War (also called the Seven Year War) as well as the Revolutionary War. Here the Colonial soldier (in the brown waistcoat) is getting a fighting tactics lesson from a French soldier. Because the French soldiers were trained for the Army as well as the Navy and the fighting tactics could be quite different depending on the battle location, the Colonial soldiers and French soldiers found it very valuable to share their training with each other in order to defeat the British. The strangest part of all was to find that it was only 12 years previously that the French and Colonial soldiers had been enemies instead of allies. I suppose that does provide hope for the future that wars can be put behind us and we can act together for global causes (we can pray anyway). Apparently the French ate pretty well while serving in the Colonies because the King had the foresight to send them with plenty of gold instead of colonial script. So they were able to purchase a good many provisions. Colonial soldiers, by contrast, ate whatever they could carry from home (bread, bannock, etc) and then whatever they could catch along the way. Looting from either army was frowned upon.


Ben Franklin even made his appearance to add to our education. And what Revolutionary War would be complete without the movement of the troops? We learned that the one room school houses of Historic America were very much like the home school room the kids have now - complete with rules and tests.


We then moved across the ocean and learned more about our Irish ancestors as well as were treated to some great scottish music and dancing - bagpipes, drumline, kilts and all. We learned about the Welsh tradition of love spoons - which while he doesn't have a sweetheart at this time was right up boy child's alley as he is into all things carved. We stopped into Italy for some Italian treats (which we took home for after supper). And we made a tour of Europe, girl child's favorite being Polish youth dancers.
She was in awe at the way one boy literally bent over backward and put his head to the floor while he danced using his hands and feet. (Break dancing a la Poland I suppose).
The children had Danish lessons and learned that there is more to being German than just coming from Germany and that Donauschwabens and Pomeranians are Germans too. Amelia learned that the Donauschabens have great struedel! They learned that there are 5 compulsary languages in Swiss schools (French, Italian, German, Romanish and English).


They played games with Latvian and Japanese animal sounds. The learned how to write a Chinese character. They saw their name written in Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese. They learned to count to 10 in Chinese.

They saw Christmas trees with traditional decorations from about a dozen different countries.
They ate Korean and Thai food for lunch and tried food from Eastern Africa.

They also watched Polynesian dancers.

They even got a small introduction to bonsai before the trip was over.

The other really cool thing was being able to touch rocks from all over the planet - and even one from outerspace. We literally were able to touch the world!

So while you're doing your own traveling this holiday season, I hope that your family has faces that look like this when all is done.

Home School Presentation Night

The kids' Home School Group had their biannual Presentation Night earlier this week. It was a much smaller than usual presentation - normally it takes about 2-21/2 hours to get through all of the kids and their various talents, talks or demonstrations. This one? Only 40 minutes. There were only 11 "acts" and 5 of those were done by my kids or their siblings (or some combination there of). Weird, just weird. I know there are still about 40+ kids in Home School Group so the program wasn't small because of a lack of kids. Oh well - it made for a much earlier than expected end to the evening which isn't always bad on snowy/blowy nights and long work weeks.

I apologize in advance for the photo quality. I still haven't mastered a good photo in that chapel - the lighting is all wrong and the camera is sensitive to the slightest movement.

Here is girl child singing her solo. "He Sent His Son" has a very nice message and a lovely tune.

Click here to listen to the tune and see the words.

Because there was so little time between her solo and her family karate demonstration, she ended up singing in her karategi

Boy child took a more laid back approach to presentation night this time. We haven't yet had a chance to chat about why he opted not to do the drum solo he was telling me about for weeks. Instead, he gave the appropriate snare drum crashes to his little sister's comedy routine.

The final act of the evening was the family karate demonstration. Boy child, girl child and their younger sister and brother each demonstrated "Journey" - this is the skill about which my joking caused much eye rolling on her part. You can read more about that here. As you can see, girl child remembered to take off her shoes and socks but forgot to take off her sweat pants. It was very cold in the chapel that night and the uniforms are very thin. I felt sorry for the ones who opted to wear their karategi with nothing else for the entire evening - good thing it was only 40 minutes.

In all it was a pleasant evening. You're all invited to the next one.

The Obligatory Kid Updates

It seems like everytime I see the kids they've grown, learned new skills, tackled a new project and decided that they're one step closer to being grown ups. Someday they'll realize how precious these years are and how they shouldn't rush the whole growing up thing.

Boy child has been a camping fool - seems like every time I turn around he's got another camping trip planned with his troop and is looking forward to being able to "camp" in the back yard as well. As previously posted, the "camping fairy" came a few weeks ago and handsomely rewarded his with his own tent, camp stool, sleeping bag, etc. The tent is just big enough to share with another scout but not nearly big enough to include 3 "pesky" brothers and sisters when he's camping in the back yard - just another of those "I want my own space moments" he's been experiencing lately. He is, however, also developing his self confidence and pushing himself to try new things. He recently completed a volunteer project with the local library - the idea was his, the implementation was his, the travel arrangements were his... And not only did he complete his required 8 hours of service, he elected to complete 10 hours because he was having fun doing it. He'll also be able to go back and do some more volunteering with the library if he wants (and if his schedule allows), so I guess it's fair to say he did a good job! Summer holds just as many, if not more activities than he's had throughout the year - and of course it means more camping. This will be his first year at scout summer camp and I can already see how he's going to blossom being away from home for a week. A week... he hasn't been away from a parent for more than a day before. Sigh, I'm homesick for him already. He, of course, will be more than happy to ditch his family for the week and go have some "he-man, male bonding experiences". He's looking forward to working on his sailing badge and thinks he's going to work on his rifle badge as well - of course, part of that falls on him. The child has little to no gun experience (I don't think you can equate a bb gun with a rifle but what do I know?), has completed no safety classes and has a financial obstacle but he's bound and determined to make this work. He's already lined up more shoe shining work to earn the funds he needs for this badge (35 cents per shot). I guess we can't fault him for having lofty dreams and working toward them. Of course, he can always change his mind and work on something else instead (which I'm hoping he will) but I'm not going to try and talk him out of pursuing a dream. Besides, he got a taste of canoeing a couple of weeks ago, including 3 dumpings into the river, and has decided that maybe trying to talk me into letting him go canoeing on the big lake here is not such a good idea. Maybe a taste of rifle recoil will convince him it's not all the fun and glamour he thinks it will be.

Girl child is going and doing and growing and learning her own things as well. She's been very active with her Activity Girls program at church and is becoming quite the social butterfly. She's fun to watch, especially in new situations. She sort of stands back, then tip toes in, and then finally dives in with both feet - sometimes even head first. She's also showing she's got a love of dance. At the Ward Family Dance a couple of weeks ago, she just didn't want to leave - or sit down! She was having such a good time. Her brother was extremely cooperative and allowed her to stay later than originally planned even though he was wiped out from camping, canoeing and gardening. (Thanks, brother!!) We've already begun talking about the Young Women's program - I can't believe it's less than a year before she also joins the ranks of "Youth" and moves out of the primary ranks. She's got that middle child angst of not quite old enough to join her brother but too old to truly enjoy everything with her younger siblings and so she's always having to play up or play down to someone else's level. I recently gave her a digital camera when I upgraded my own and it will be interesting to see how she's choosing to "document" her life. She doesn't really like to sit and write letters to keep me updated, nor does she have access to email at home. And when we talk on the phone, inevitably we can only hit the highlights of things going on. I'm hoping this will give her an opportunity to share more of the day to day things. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to the Midwest Horse Show. She was thrilled - just totally in awe to be surrounded by all of these real live horses, to have the opportunity to stroke a few noses, to see a number of breeds and to pick up information about them in case she elects to do a speech about horses at the next school presentation night. She also had the opportunity to sit on one of the carts used for harness racing. Although she decided she probably didn't ever want to be a harness racer when the gentleman holding the cart informed her that she would have to be careful not to get freckled by the horse pulling her! She even splurged and bought herself a new stuffed horse. Boy child, upon learning she had bought her own horse, inquired if she was ill - yes, my daughter is tight fisted with her funds (a very good trait and one that's hard to teach in my opinion). The only thing we forgot that day was the camera! Mom has learned and is carrying one almost constantly now. And she's developed a work ethic to be admired (except when it comes to her own personal chores). As long as the project is for someone else she works hard, works long and works proud! While other folks were hauling some 4 tons of sand off the driveway and back about 200 feet into the yard, she was responsible for spreading it around in a designated area to create a sand base for a large pool. She kept up with the wheelbarrow crew although it did wipe her out.

Both kids participated in the Spring Concert with their home school group and did a very nice job. Their age group wrote their own rhythmic composition. 4 groups of students, 3-4 students in a group, each took a percussion instrument and within certain guidelines wrote their own rhythm to perform. Then, all 4 groups combined their efforts into a single composition. They did a nice job! The following pictures are of this concert - girl child performing during the rhythm piece and boy child managing to turn away from the camera at every opportunity - he's learning to sense it (frustrated the efforts of his dad and step mother to get pictures as well so I didn't feel so bad). Enjoy!

I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

It’s interesting to me the various comments I’ve heard when folks find out that we made a co-parenting decision to home school the kids beginning in the fall of 2006. People who know me heard many rants about how I would never let my kids be home schooled, how wrong it was to have a non-teaching certified adult being placed in charge of their education, how I thought the kids would be under challenged, etc. I’m now hearing many of those same rants and comments from people outside our family. When I say “our family” I’m referring to myself, my ex-husband, his wife and the 4 (ours/theirs) children. Trust me, it was a very weird thing to me to sit down and have a family meeting with the 7 of us. But it was probably one of the most important decisions we’ll have to make as a family.

I was a naysayer. No way, no how. Home schooling – you’re kidding me. I actually did put me foot down for several years when the kids would even say to me, “Mom, we want to be home schooled.” Once their little sister reached school age and the decision was made that she would be home schooled, the issue reached a head. I spoke with educators, I spoke with the children, I thought and prayed about why I felt so strongly that the answer had been no. And when it call came down to it, the only reason I was objecting was that I didn’t want “her” spending all of that time with “my” children when I couldn’t be spending that same time with them. Pretty stupid reason, huh?

So we all sat down and we talked about why they wanted to home school, why the kids wanted to be home schooled, the pros and the cons, my concerns, their concerns, the curriculum, how social needs would be addressed, etc. And thus the plan was laid. I agreed to go along with it, reluctantly, because I really didn’t have a valid objection and saw a lot of truth in what was being presented to me as reasons to home school. And as it was pointed out to me by a neutral party – 1 year at this time in their life would not ruin their educational future if it didn’t work, but that I should be prepared to commit to the entire year and not pull the plug while the bumps got worked out (as with any new endeavor).

A year later, I’m totally sold. I am however extremely glad that my kids had the socialization lessons from public school those first K-3rd & 4th years, especially when I was able to compare their small group skills to those of their peers who had always been home schooled. Oye vey! Time will tell if their siblings end up with the same difficulties since they have not had a public education exposure, I suppose. Then we’ll know if it is a matter of parental guidance or school system (or both) which provide the building blocks for that very important of life/job skill – the ability to work well with others.

It’s not always easy to work well with others. Even if you’ve grown up in a large family, you don’t always know how to interact with peers – just because you got along well enough with your brother who threatened to pound you if you touched his stuff doesn’t mean you’ve learned to work together toward a common goal. And unfortunately, even attendance at public school does not mean you’re going to learn how to “play nice” either.

It amazes me how many times our adult problems could be more easily solved if we just used those playground rules we learned as a child. Sometimes it means we have to put aside our egos to accept that what we want isn’t always what is best. And sometimes it means having to pick people for your team that aren’t necessarily the most popular or the best athlete. And sometimes, in the end, it’s about how we interact with other people that defines who we are.

I watch my kids interact with others. I see their kind and respectful natures along with their competitive spirits. And I have to believe we’re doing right by them, even with the decision to home school. For they are, indeed, being defined by the way they interact and I wouldn’t have it any other way.